Grain of Sand

Now that the season has finished, I have to really focus on my core strength and gym work, which I feel really let me down this season. I spent the whole time feeling twisted on the bike. I managed to get free membership to the Wren Club in Eton which is pretty cool and I am looking forward to (it is just in the shadow of Windsor castle). It hasn't come through yet so in the meantime I am riding to the EIS gym in Marlow for my core work (haven't started weights yet). Throughout the winter I am planning on doing some running to keep my aerobic system at a high level. It will also be a bit of a change. I will do some MTB too just for bike handling. I am going to do a few hill climbs as well just for fun (am I crazy). Hopefully I can do well being a pretty skinny dude. The National Hill Climb will be a bit of a target. I have started doing mental training too to improve myself for next season. It works by hypnosis and it certainly helps me go to sleep. See    http://ultimatesports...

The Last Race of the season was a 2 day Stage Race is Koksijde, Belgium (big UCI race). I had a cold but since it was my last race, decided to just do it. After a long trip on the Friday, we started racing on Saturday afternoon. I felt really good over the cobbles and in the crosswinds but unfortunately missed the break. I tried to bridge across to the break with a Balen rider but he crashed behind me and I couldn't do it alone. George did well and attacked off the front in the closing stages and came 10th. I finished in the peleton The next morning I was one of the early time trial starters which meant waking at 7:00. It was very cold so I made sure I had a long warm up. During the time trial I paced myself well but my legs felt drained. I think I wasted far too much energy yesterday as I was attacking lots. I finished around 40th place which I was disappointed with. The afternoon stage was a crit and I was fine until about half way. At that point I started to really suffer and I ...

After my poor performance last week at Meulebeke, I was looking to redeem myself at the national time trial Champs this weekend. I spent the week training on my tt bike for it and borrowed some extra fast wheels but came a disappointing 6th. Started off to slow and didn't go hard enough as overestimated the distance. This winter I am going to really work on improving my big gear strength. My next race is Hillingdon on Saturday followed by Warwick (National Elite circuit series) circuit race on the Sunday

The weekend after Tour of Wales I had a single day UCI junior race in Belgium. This was a very big race with the prize list being 3000 euros. I went over with John Barkley and the South East team. The race took in some famed cobbled climbs such as the Patersberg and the Kluisberg. I started the races and 5 k in realized my shorts were too big. This caused massive discomfort. I was also scared senseless by kamikaze moves of my fellow continental racers. I arrived at the fist berg near the back but got to the front on the climb. I went backwards on the descent as my crotch was in agony when spinning fast. We then proceeded on the the cobbled bergs which were great. The race split and I was too far at the back to go with the leaders but I reckon I had the legs as I was overtaking most people. I sat on the back of my group until we got to the finishing circuits which were 100k into the race. I pulled out of the race after 1 lap as my crotch was too painful and didn't see the point of r...

I had 1 day of rest between track nationals and the Tour of Wales. I spent it carbo loading (shoving my face) and fixing my road bike whose headset had disintegrated half way through the week. The race started on the Saturday with a 10k Prologue/hill climb. It was a rolling course followed by a climb to the finish. I opted for road bike with aero wheels instead of a tt bike. During the ride I never felt quite right and got a respectable time to come in 16th but was a bit disappointed. My plan for the afternoon stage was to attack just before the bottom of the brutal finishing climb of  Llangynidr and solo my way to victory. I sat at the back for the whole race until about 20 k before the climb. Peter Dibben, my GWR team mate, did a big turn on the front to bring back the break and then I attacked. I just rode hard up the mountain till I caught the break that was away. As soon as I got there a Norwegian attacked and I was caught behind with 1 other rider who was suffering and couldn...

After the Road Nationals it was straight to a training camp in Newport, Wales, in preparation for the National Track champs and also the possibility of European Track Championships. I spent the week doing lots of sprints and intervals. I stayed over after the camp in the house Dad had rented for 2 weeks. It was called Stable court and was in Dingestow, 20 minutes from Newport. It was very nice and had a tennis court and a lake and had great cycling roads all around. Unfortunately there was not much time to try them. Track Nationals kicked off with Scratch race on Tuesday. I qualified 4th in my heat in the morning then went home for lunch. The final was much sooner than expected so as I got into the velodrome I just had time to put on my kit and go. I came 4th in the final after getting in a break with 3 other riders. Towards the last 5 laps I was on my knees and the chicken and rice I had eaten only 45 minutes earlier started to feel like a poor decision. On Wednesday we had pursuit. I...